What Is a Patent License?

There is no single statutory definition of a patent license. A license is permission to use intellectual property while ownership stays with the licensor; an assignment transfers ownership of specified rights. The agreement's substance matters more than its heading: an exclusive copyright license, for example, is itself a transfer of ownership of the licensed right under the Copyright Act. A patent license should identify what the recipient may do, where, for how long, and through whom. A label such as "perpetual" addresses duration; it does not by itself establish that a license is irrevocable, transferable, or free of continuing conditions.

The distinction carries different formalities by type of right. Patent assignments must be in writing (35 U.S.C. § 261). Copyright transfers generally require a writing signed by the owner or its authorized agent, apart from transfers by operation of law (17 U.S.C. § 204). Federal trademark assignments must carry the associated goodwill and are subject to additional rules, including restrictions on assigning certain intent-to-use applications (15 U.S.C. § 1060). For a licensed mark, quality control preserves the mark's source-identifying function. Ownership should also be checked before any grant is made: a grant reaches only rights the granting party holds, and a missing link in title cannot be fixed merely by promising in a later contract that the business owns everything.

Pinpoint: No single statutory definition; see 35 U.S.C. § 261; 17 U.S.C. § 204; 15 U.S.C. § 1060. Related term: Patent License.

Sources.

• 35 U.S.C. § 261: ownership, assignment of patents. law.cornell.edu
• 17 U.S.C. § 204: execution of transfers of copyright ownership. law.cornell.edu
• 15 U.S.C. § 1060: assignment of trade marks, including goodwill and intent-to-use restrictions. law.cornell.edu

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